Establishing, and subsequently maintaining, a margin loan requires the following preconditions:
- The client must maintain a "Margin" type account (borrowing is not allowed in a "Cash" type account). Your account type can be found in the Account Information section of your statements. To access recent statements, log in to Client Portal and select Performance & Reports followed by Statements;
- The client must maintain equity of at least USD 2,000 (or equivalent) in the securities segment of the account in which loans are maintained;
- The account maintains sufficient Equity With Loan Value to sustain the loan.
Assuming those conditions are met, a margin loan is created by:
- Purchasing a security without having sufficient cash (in the same currency denomination as that in which the security settles) to fully pay for that security at settlement;
- Withdrawing funds in excess of settled cash in the denomination of the currency being withdrawn;
- Assessment of a fee in an amount which exceeds the settled funds on hand (in the same currency denomination as that in which the fee was assessed).
NOTE
- IBKR does not issue margin calls and clients whose accounts are no longer margin complaint are subject to forced liquidation of positions to restore margin compliance.
Additional Information